World News | Driver Rams into Crowd of Anti-government Protesters in Serbia, Seriously Injuring Young Woman
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A driver rammed his car into a crowd and seriously injured a young woman on Thursday during daily student-led protests and traffic blockades that have been held throughout Serbia following the collapse in November of a concrete canopy in the country's north that killed 15 people.
Belgrade (Serbia), Jan 16 (AP) A driver rammed his car into a crowd and seriously injured a young woman on Thursday during daily student-led protests and traffic blockades that have been held throughout Serbia following the collapse in November of a concrete canopy in the country's north that killed 15 people.
The driver fled the scene of the incident in downtown Belgrade after the young woman was thrown onto his car roof before falling to the ground with bleeding head injuries.
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N1 television said she was seriously wounded and was taken to a hospital in a conscious state. State RTS television sad she was in a stable condition.
Police said they detained the driver and that he was being charged with attempted murder. Several such incidents have been reported during the protests since the blockades started, but this was the first case to result in a serious injury.
Hundreds of university students were gathering on Thursday in front of the law faculty in downtown Belgrade in a spontaneous protest in support of the injured woman. They chanted slogans including “Killers” and “You will not be allowed to run us over”.
Residents throughout Serbia have been stopping in silence for 15 minutes almost daily as part of persistent anti-government protests and demands that those responsible for the canopy collapse be punished.
Traffic blockades have taken place daily since November 1 at 11:52 a.m., the exact time when the canopy at the railway station building in Novi Sad crashed down on people who were sitting or strolling below on a sunny day.
The station building was renovated twice in recent years. Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption led to sloppy work on the building reconstruction, which was part of a wider railroad project with Chinese state companies.
The collapse also has become a flashpoint for broader dissatisfaction with the growingly autocratic rule of populist President Aleksandar Vucic, reflecting public demands for democratic changes.
Vucic has alleged the student-led protests have been “financed” from abroad to topple him from power by force.
He has sided with people who are against the daily protests saying their freedom of movement has been jeopardised with the 15-minute blockades of traffic. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)